Guest Column:
Homecoming is about traditions, both old and starting new to fit the changing student body. It is a week of transformation. This year has already been a transformation for all of us on campus. We have new administrators and a new library that are bringing positive changes and transforming this campus, and
in the process, our lives.
The phrase “Once an Aggie, Always an Aggie” is an appropriate theme for this year’s Homecoming. Many thoughts go running through our minds as we reflect on what that means. To me and anyone else who has lost a fellow Aggie to death, graduation or marriage, you know that there will always be a place in our hearts, and in their hearts, for USU.
We reflect on what it means to be part of the Aggie family. Recently, that family has changed. It has transformed into something new. But for some, these changes are not always welcome. Lives were lost, memories were made and traditions were born.
The tradition and transformation of Homecoming is to celebrate the current student body as well as respect and honor those who have passed through these halls and came before. It gives us time to remember that, “Once an Aggie, Always an Aggie.”
This idea never leaves us, even when we leave this campus to transition into our next phase of life.
To continue to show our support for those who are Aggies now and those who will always be Aggies, the Homecoming activities are going to commence with both new and long-standing traditions. There will still be street painting and Mr. USU, along with some of the older traditions transforming into new traditions to better honor the past and present Aggies.
Donations for the Agriculture Technology Memorial Fund will be collected at the STAB movie, “Batman Begins,” on Thursday, and at the game on Saturday there will be a moment of silence to remember and honor those who have passed on.
A tradition that has also transformed as the students at USU have is the dance.
Homecoming isn’t only a time for celebration, it is a time for remembering, honoring, reflecting and, of course, transforming for all Aggies.
Transformation is a change, a chance to alter the course of our lives. This is something that I urge and encourage USU to do. Let this week of transformation help you start anew. Let it bring you a new life, a new feeling and a new pride for those who have and always will be Aggies. After all, “Once an Aggie, Always an Aggie”.
Laurel Evans is the 2005 ASUSU Programming Vice President